Bendek by Eron12 on Hero Forge"Not all necromancers use undead minions, but damn near every necromancer uses pain spells. It's not surprising that undead exist with built in pain spells. I shudder to think of how these undead creatures are made. I am assuming it involves cadavers that belonged to people who died very painful deaths."Sir Bendek Deorac, adventuring knight Agony Crawlers inflict pain on their enemy with a touch attack, regardless of whether physical damage is inflicted. Touching an opponents armor or clothes is sufficient, but the effect is much stronger if the Agony Crawler can make contact with bare skin. Agony Crawlers attack by punching, kicking, and biting their opponents, but they are not especially strong or skilled combatants.Causes
Torturing a person before killing them is not normally sufficient. They need to have deal with chronic pain and suffering throughout their lives. Some necromancers claim that extreme forms of torture can allow for the preparation of a Agony Crawler vessel, but even I find that distasteful. Besides, mages with sadistic impulses that strong rarely evade their enemies for very long."-Magnati, independent necromancerby Eron12 with Heroforge"Agony crawlers are deliberately created undead that represent an upgrade over garden variety zombies. Pain is in mental construct, and minds come from brain. In order to make an Agony Crawler, you need a corpse with a fully intact brain. It helps if the corpse suffered a lot in life before their death.Symptoms
Agony Crawlers are variant of the relatively common "crawler zombie" variant. "Crawler zombies" is a nickname for any zombie that is capable of running very fast. So-named because their method of movement involves crawling on all fours. Crawler zombies can also scuttle up walls. An "Agony" zombie doesn't have to have to be a "Crawler" zombie, but since Agony zombie attacks require touch and Crawler zombies are better at touching their enemies than other zombies, it is rare to see an "Agony" zombie that isn't also "Crawler". Agony Crawlers can be distinguished from common "Crawlers" by their pained expressed and pitiful moaning. Though only trained necromancers or undead fighters can tell the difference between that and "standard" zombie moaning.by me with MidjourneyAffected Groups
Zombies can be made out of almost any corpse, mortal or beast. Agony Crawlers can only be made out of mortals. Beasts can both feel and inflict pain but they don't understand or embody as fully as mortals do.History
[quote]Some pain-based undead use a gaze attack, some expel a miasma of pain, some just radiate pain on those nearby. There are rumored to be dozens of variants of pain-based undead. I myself have come across five reliable formulas for creating pain-based undead, but none is more popular than the Agony Crawler. I have not experimented with all five, I have relied on the notes of my predecessors for information. Even I don't relish torturing living people to death over and over in the name of 'experimentation'. The reason that Agony Crawlers are the most popular undead minion of their kind is that they are more effective than their peers. The other pain-based undead I've encountered either produce very weak pain effects on their enemies that are very easy for their enemies to resist. Or else the other pain-based undead have very clumsy attacks likely to accidentally affect their masters' or their master's living allies."-Magnati, independent necromancerby Eron12 with Heroforge"Most neophyte necromancers that face combat learn the spell Burst of Pain, and experienced necromancers that expect to be able to fight groups of enemies usually learn the Waves of Pain spell. Burst of Pain is a ranged attack spell for one target. Waves of Pain is an area of effect attack These are just the two most common pain spells known,, there are others. Given that necromancers are known for experimenting with new types of undead minions and that necromancers are known for studying the science of pain, it surprises no one that many necromancers have experimented with undead with pain based special attacks.Cultural Reception
-Dallas, Necromancer of the Barony of EternityDallas the friendly necromancer by Eron12 with Hero Forge"I don't like the name 'Agony Crawlers', it is has negative implications, but the name stuck, nonetheless. I don't like the name because 'Agony Crawlers' can actually be instruments of mercy. They can incapacitate targets with their pain attacks which can allow enemies to be taken alive and unharmed. That is a great deal kinder than bludgeoning people to death, but very few people see it that way. They only see pain as a weapon of cruelty, not a tool of mercy."How to Make an Agony Crawler
Agony Crawlers are Considered Tier Two Undead. A zombie that is just an Agony Zombie or just a Crawler Zombie is considered a Tier One Undead. Most necromancers with the requisite knowledge to make Agony Zombies has no problems making Tier Two undead. A master necromancer capable of making Tier Three (or theoretically Tier Four) undead, can make enhanced Agony Crawler with additional upgrades, customized to taste. Often increased durability is chosen. For a detailed look on the in-game mechanics of making undead, check out this link. Into the Weeds: Necromancers reanimating corpses to serve them
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me with midjourney
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